Get Organized #3: The Calendars

Yes, that’s calendarS. You’ll need 2 for this to work well.

Mine are the Daily System from Pottery Barn. (We have too many kids to take fabulous vacations…gotta use our AmEx points for something, right?)

I’ve seen similar ones at Target in the $15 range. They came in both black and white.

You could also make your own, like these from the girls over at Nannygoat.

Whatever you decide, just be sure you have 2 that hook to the wall the same way and are somehow erasable — chalk, dry erase, etc.

These are hanging in my kitchen, right next to the computer area and the phone. We have a saying: “If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist”.

When the kids come home, I immediately take all papers out of their bags and transfer the important dates to the calendar and then throw the papers away or file them in the Family Binder.

At the beginning of a new month, I move that calendar up to the top and erase everything from the other calendar, re-labeling it for the next month and then hanging it back on the bottom. Any events further out than that get stuck in the binder or noted in the empty squares at the end of the month. If you look really closely at the picture, you’ll see that I’ve written a note at the bottom of February to remind myself that my kids go off track (again) at the beginning of March.

I don’t color code by family member, but the idea of doing so makes me very, very happy. ;)

Next up? My love of magazine racks continues….
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Comments

  1. Brown Sugar Babies says:

    Love your blog – just found it – and I've already incorporated many of your ideas.

  2. your organizational ideas are great – i esp. like the binder.

    wondering though, if having two dry-erase calendars is actually better than a traditional flippy one. because you just lift up your page to get to the next month – it's not hard. plus you get a pretty picture to look at and a keepsake for the year when you're done.

    or am i the only nerd to who keeps all her calendars…

  3. Char @ Crap I've Made says:

    I don't think I've ever owned a traditional flippy calendar in all my years of being an adult. Oops!

    Keeping those would be a great idea, too…keep track of milestones and stuff.

  4. Danielle and the Boys says:

    How fun that you have a Bennett too (with *almost* the same last name)! :)

    I had never actually heard of another kid with that name when I decided on it but as soon as he was born I started hearing of Bennett's everywhere! lol. And most of them are through blogs!

    By the way, I love all the stuff that you do. I actually have the same pottery barn calendar but never even considered getting two and doing what you do with them-GENIUS!

  5. I LOVE the whiteboard calendars. We have one right now, but having two would be even better. (it's on my shopping list now) I like them better than the paper ones because it's more colorful and it's easy to erase and change!

  6. I love your blog… it's my lunch break entertainment.

    I have no kids to manage, but I do have a love of dry-erase boards. I update my work status board every 2 weeks. I snap a photo of the board before erasing, then file a copy of the board in a binder for future reference.

  7. I love this idea! I just started using my calendars this way. I have a post about it going up on Monday August 22nd (trying to get ahead for while I’m on vacation!) and I credited you
    Thanks for the inspiration

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